The farming simulator genre is growing strong by the day in the indie gaming scene. With how many games focus on harsh combat and stressful levels, sometimes we want to sit back, relax, and just grow a plant or two. This list will go over some great games to help scratch that hidden farming itch!
10. Littlewood - 2020 (Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac)
In this adorable pixel world, you wake up to realize that you are the hero that saved it! But…you don’t remember doing this, or anything in fact! Now it’s your job to rebuild the little humble town in any way you can while making connections with its many inhabitants.
Explore Solemn’s enchanted forests, creepy mines, fishing towns, and more for a wide range of peaceful adventures. Meet the townsfolk and connect with their fun personalities to help find more about your past. Collect the materials you find and farm crops to help craft into useful tools or sell for gold!
Play This Game If You Like...
- Freedom of customization for the town including building placement, your own home, and even terraforming the land!
- Fun hobby features for different ways to collect resources to craft and sell such as mining, fishing, farming, cooking, gathering, and more to keep you busy
- Many different ways to get involved with the town such as events and holidays. This can allow you to get closer with the townsfolk as you can give gifts, hangout with them, and even marry them!
There are many wacky events and landmarks to find in Solemn!
9. Epic Chef - 2021(Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X and Series S, Amazon Luna)
Now I know what you may be thinking. “Chef? What does that have to do with farming?” Well, I happily argue back that what better combination is there than farming and cooking?
Epic Chef follows Zest, a cook living in the town of Ambrosia. Zest is committed to becoming the top chef in town, and it is up to us to compete as best we can to climb up the ranks of rival chefs. In order to compete and broaden our recipe knowledge, we must collect ingredients!
This is where the farming elements come into play as you build your crop land, raise animals, and perform other tasks such as fishing to collect all you need for each contest. The town of Ambrosia is vast with not just the colorful landscape, but also its humorous villagers!
Play This Game If You Like...
- Rewarding gameplay with many activities such as fishing, farming, and of course cooking!
- Comedy-filled villagers and conversations throughout the story that are guaranteed to make you laugh out loud with its charm
- Engaging cooking competitions where you put all of your hard work to the test along with satisfying cooking mini-games
The cooking competitions are not only very fun, but can be intense! Good luck!
8. Graveyard Keeper - 2018(Nintendo Switch, Android, PlayStation 4, macOS, Xbox One, iOS, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac operating systems)
Want to play a game with farming mechanics with a darker twist? Graveyard Keeper has you covered, but instead you’re farming corpses! Pretty grim, but I promise it’s not as gross as it may sound.
You play as an everyday modern guy who happens to die, causing him to be transported back to medieval times where he is forced to work as the new graveyard keeper of a small town. Not only are you in charge of harvesting different bodies and updating the graveyard, but you also get to perform other activities such as fishing, farming, and selling some human organs to the local tavern.
Huh? Yeah you read that correctly. This is a cannibal’s town, and you can become one too! Work for the town’s church and enjoy the crude humor of the townsfolk and even your loyal talking donkey. If you enjoy some dark humor with a mix of cannibalism and farming, this is the game for you!
Play This Game If You Like...
- A darker tone with the overall mechanic of corpse harvesting, theme of cannibalism and more
- Crude humor that will sometimes make you feel guilty for laughing, but in a good way!
- An interesting story following the protagonist’s mysterious death and the insidious town
There are many gravestones to keep up with, which means more bodies to harvest!
7. Harvestella - 2022(Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows)
At first glance, Harveststella seems like your average, combat heavy JRPG right? Well, Harveststella takes these elements and elevates them with not only its stylish combat, but its beautiful worlds that you explore and unique people that you meet.
Similar to the Rune Factory series, Harveststella incorporates farming and raising different animals as well. You play as a character with amnesia as you try to help the world from being corrupted from crystals called Seaslight. Gather resources through your farm and complete quests, as well as defeat different creatures to help save different parts of the world one by one.
Play This Game If You Like...
- JRPG’s with satisfying farming elements as well as stylistic and rewarding combat
- Traveling and exploring different parts of a beautiful world with many landmarks to see and quests to complete
- A goal-oriented quest and storyline giving you plenty of tasks to do and ways to interact with the world and build your farm
There are many different activities in Harvestella, from cozy farming to intense and flashy combat!
6. My Time At Portia - 2019(Nintendo Switch, Android, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iOS, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Microsoft Windows, macOS)
My Time At Portia is a game with just about every feature you can think of. Farming, fishing, mining, cooking, marriage, randomly being able to fight other townspeople. You name it, this game has it!
Play as a new workshop owner moving into the town of Portia in a post-apocalyptic world, where the human population is smaller and relics of the past are everywhere! Run and upgrade your workshop by gathering materials whether through fishing, mining in the underground ruins, farming, raising animals and more.
There is much to do in Portia and you can spend your time however you like! Meet up with all of the townsfolk to learn about their lives. Make the workshop of your dreams and complete every task on the community board. Or spend your time collecting all the different relics in the deepest depths of the ancient ruins, the choice is yours!
Play This Game If You Like...
- A multitude of activities to choose from that will never leave you bored such as upgrading your workshop, exploring the ruins, or even practicing your combat skills with the townsfolk!(Yes you can actually do that)
Befriending the many characters in Portia and experiencing different heart events and watching your relationships grow to the point of even marriage
In-depth customization when it comes to your character, workshop, and house. Let your imagination take over however you wish to customize and play!
In the vast town of Portia, there are many things to do that’ll never leave you bored!
5. Wylde Flowers - 2022(Nintendo Switch, iOS, Microsoft Windows, Mac operating systems)
What happens when you combine farming and wizardry? Join Tara as she moves in from the city to little Fairhaven. Here Tara will discover that she is actually a witch! You’ll be able to learn different spells to help with building your new farm life as you learn more about Tara’s witch heritage.
Wylde Flowers is a wonderful and cozy take on a hidden fantasy world. There are also many different townspeople to meet with detailed backstories, as well as the ability to date and marry. There are plenty of customization options to choose from not just with your farm, but also your basement with your hidden witch’s cauldron.
Play This Game If You Like...
- Cool fantasy worlds and elements such as building your spell knowledge as a secret witch to help expand your farm
- A captivating story exploring Tara’s heritage and experience within the secret witch’s coven
- Colorful and detailed characters with their own interesting storylines whether you decide to pursue marriage or not
Fairhaven may seem like a normal town, but there is also a beautiful fantasy world hidden away that is worth exploring!
4. Rune Factory 5 - 2021(Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows)
The newest release from the popular Rune Factory series, Rune Factory 5 is probably the best entry yet. With its updated graphics and engaging combat and farming, the town of Rigbarth and its many areas have plenty to explore! Raise your crops and monsters while gathering resources in the deep woods while battling vicious foes.
In Rune Factory 5, you play as a character who has lost their memory(a trope just as popular as this series), and so you fight creatures and build up your farm on your quest to remember what you lost.. Rigbarth has plenty of townsfolk to meet along with the ability to marry. Don’t forget about the iconic beautifully animated cutscenes, as they are better than ever here!
Play This Game If You Like...
- Flashy JRPG style gameplay and combat to keep you engaged in increasing your stats to grow stronger by the minute
- Different part of the world to explore and colorful characters to meet within Rigbarth with their own friendship events and cutscenes
- Collecting different types of monsters that you find around the world to help you look after your farm as you build it up along your journey
You can capture monsters to help you on your farm. That way you help make your farm even bigger!
3. Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life - 2023(Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows)
Marvelous studio is back with another installment and a remake of Harvest Moon’s A Wonderful Life. If you are any farming game connoisseur, then you may be familiar with the beloved Harvest Moon series.If so, then you’ll be happy to know that Story of Seasons does this iconic game series justice!
Play as your own farmer moving into Forgotten Valley on your late Grandfather’s farm. After that, your life is yours to live however you’d like! Feel free to make a fruit tree or animal ranch empire, or focus on getting married, raising a family, and meeting all the other townsfolk.
As you play through the seasons and years, you will get to see your farmer and the characters around you grow older. Watch your child grow as well as your farm and the valley. What will you make of your wonderful life?
Play This Game If You Like...
- Fun and interesting interactions and events with the townsfolk as you watch them grow older with you or build a family with them
- Great replay value as your actions, how you build your farm, and who you talk to affect how your child grows and who they will become as an adult!
- Multiple different crops to grow and animals to raise with many unique upgrades such as seed makers for hybrid seeds to get creative with
Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life is very focused on being able to raise a family however you’d like!
2. Stardew Valley - 2016(Nintendo Switch, Android, macOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iOS, Linux, Microsoft Windows, Playstation Vita)
Stardew Valley is an older gem, but it’s one for a reason. Here you play as your own character who has just moved into your grandfather’s farm to escape from your old office job. You will meet plenty of characters with their own charms and interesting quests, as well being able to experience their own heart events and stories.
You will soon discover that the valley needs your help, as the town’s Community Center is in shambles and it’s up to you with the help of the forest sprites, the Junimos, to restore it! Gather different items and materials to donate to the building while also making an income selling crops, raising animals, fishing, or even mining in the scary monster infested caves.
Play This Game If You Like...
- Interesting characters each with their own stories to experience as well as the ability to marry and have children
- Full customization of decorations or layout of your farm! Customize your farm, pathways in the town, or even add kegs making wine next to the bus stop. You name it, you can do it!
- Relaxed main storyline as there is no time limit for the Community Center or major quests. Be able to take everything at your own pace and do what you want!
Many players have made plenty of unique farm designs. What will yours look like?
1. Kynseed - 2018(Microsoft Windows)
Kynseed is a world where everyone ages. Whatever you think you can do, you can do it! Delve into monster infested lands to gather materials from the creatures you slay.
Or you can live a peaceful life as a store, restaurant, or blacksmith owner as you gather resources from your farm, fishing, and more to improve your stores and gather income. Then of course, you can marry and have a family! But Kynseed has a very unique feature.
Not only can you raise a family, but they, you, and the townspeople also age. Anytime you die, you then play as one of your children! The cycle continues for generations and generations on to create your legacy.
Play This Game If You Like...
- A large open world with many parts to explore with their own history and creatures to slay and gather materials from
- Many different options to make income and live your life such as running different types of businesses with their own special mini-games
- The unique feature surrounding death where not only can you play with future generations, but also have your own potential death looming over you at every turn
Kynseed is a magnificent fantasy world with many different places to explore and people to meet!
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